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FDP TELLS STATE NEGROES NOT TO HONOR DRAFT CALLS
'USE HUNGER STRIKES' MEN IN SERVICES TOLD
NEW POLITICAL ORGANIZATION SLATED BY WHITES, NEGROES
7
,
ii *,
I I • : J I ■ - -
ITi/U
.4;
lie » ." •?
use./tfu
MenVlif
t.
arvices
By JAMES E. BOMNEY lOCrati and copies were exhibited
Associated Pross Writer I today on a bulletin board ir. the
JACKSON, Miss. 'A!') —Nc-j parly headquarter! in Jack-
gro mothers are. being urgfd by j son.
a largely Negro political ore..: ;■: Asked today about the appeal,
zation to keep theict sons from i liarles Horwitz, a spokesman
honoring the draft and Nerro: s -fur the Freedom Democrats,
in the armed services were {said, "Tne McComb Freedom
asked to stage hunger strikes, j Democratic Party initially pub-
The Freedom Democratic I'.tt- fished the letter and althou ll
OlltlCQi
&a !H
rxa.
ty, composed oi some cull
rights groups, mide the plea in
a leaflet distributed in Negro
Communities throughout the
state.
The appeal also is a monthly
newsletter ot the Freedom Dem-
T^ . >a ■ „«,
* I ' Z •
ITfltlf
'f
ii ii Ji & 'v *> j
By JOHN HAUL | fcfring ' to -he 1*87 governor
Associated Press Writer j race, "till that is going to be
the last
Loyalist Democrats — white
and Negro — have launched a
j new political organization to
I support President Johnson and
i find a middle ground in Missis-
; sippi's race-shrecded politics.
The races sat side-by-side Sunday afternoon in a downtown
hotel and voted to form the Mis-
; sissippi Democratic Conference.
! About 125 persons attended
| the session, mostly whites from
: the Mississippi Labor Council,
; AFL-CIO. and Negroes from
I the National Association for the
■ Advancement ot Colored People.
j There were also a number of
I white and Negro college stu-
| dents, businessmen, attorneys
and political figures present.
Editor Hodding Carter HI of
the Delta Democrai-Timcs toost
an active oar:.
BY INVITATION ONLY
Attendance was by invitation
only, and no bids went to
"never, never'' segregationists
or to hard -line integration
groups—the Freedom Democratic Party. Student Non-Violent
Coordinating Committee ar.d
Council of Federated Organizations.
Charles Young, a wealthy Meridian Negro businessman, and
Claude Ramsay, white uresident
of the state AFL-CIO, were co-
; chairmen.
Whites and Negroes were
elected alternately to six offices
, by acclamation, and whites and
, Negroes took turns nominating
and seconding officers.
Robert Oswald, a white attorney from Pascagoula. was
named chairman, and Young
was chosen vice chairmen.
Oswald il Jackson County
Democratic Executive Committee chairman. 3td was r,re<i-
Je.nl -:' the State You-,2 Democrats until ihe organization's
c irtei u pin " ■ :
"There m i\ e re re '*-
t -■ - E'lted t ■ ' • '■ cam.
or.e.
ECONOMIC ISSUES
"Then we can talk about the
economic Is-ues. Those arc ihe
things that -.ne closed society of
Mississippi has kepi from discussion. When we d;scuss them
we will begin to solve our problems."
Charles Evers. sute NAACP
secretary, seconded Oswald's
nomination Evers attended
along with state NAACP President Aaron Henry nf Clarksdale.
A'.onzo Westbrook of Jackson
and Wade I^grone of Tupelo.
Democratic presidential electors in 1964 and both white, also
participated.
Don Eiiinger of Washington,
a staffer Of :ne Democratic National Committee, premised help
from the national patty, and,
noting the federal voting rights
bill would change 'he complexion of Mississippi politics, urged
the group to get votes at the
grass roots.
"Looking at the voting percentages Ir. Mississippi "in (he
last election I would say we
need every friend we can get,"
Eiiinger said.
Mississippi gave 87 per cent
of its presidential vo'e to Republican 3=rry Goldwater in
10o4. and most Democrats failed
to support 'he national ticket.
Some, like Rep. John Bell Williams. D-M:ss., openly declared
for Goldwater.
NO ELECTED OFFICIALS
No elected officials were invited, and National Democratic
Committeeman E. K. Collins of
Laurel, a state senator, and
Ccmmitteewoman Burnett Y.
Hennington o; Jackson, a real
es:a-e dea ::. did not attend.
William Ready, a \.n.'e attor.
ney from Meridian. w»s elected
secretary, ar.d Levi Chappell. a
Negro owner ,t a co«meucs sup-
- . " ~ Graenviiie. w a s
.... . .. .....
-«ai 'iri a N* 't& »v
f'
'rca<u'-er. Smith is g Baptist
minister, a supermarket owner
and local NAACP leader.
Prof. Flavons Hutchinson of
Mississippi S'ate University was
elected parliamentarian.
The group approved a resolti-
■ion setting up the conference
as a temporary organization until precinct, county and state
convention work can establish
a permanent group.
"We recognize." '.he resolution said, "a need for a statewide organization for 'he purpose of bringing together electors interested in advancing the.
principles and goals of the National Democratic Party."
ihe executive committee of tha
FDP hadn't taken any action on
it, we decided to reprint it hi
the official newsletter for distribution across the si ate."
An editor's nole in the newsletter said ihe appeal was tu-
thored by Joe Martin of McComb and Citit Hopson, a lav
student from New Jersey.
j The Freedom Democrats arc
'challenging the seating of Mississippi's five congressmen ou
grounds they were illegally
j elected because Negroes aren't
registered in sufficient numbers
I in this deep Scuta state.
I ''No Mississippi Negroes
(should be fighting in Viet Xara
for the white man's freedom,
, until all the Negro people are
|free it. Mississippi" the newsletter said.
j "Xegro boys should rot honor
the draft here in .Mississippi.
I Mothers jhouid encourage their
; sons tie: to go.
! "We will gala respect aDd
.dignity as a race only by foreirrg
|we L..S. government and tha
; Mississippi government to come
'With funs, dogs and trucks to
-take cur sons away to fight and
be killed protecting Mississippi
I Alabama, Georgia andLou-
, lstana.
j "No one has a right to ask us
to risk our lives and kill other
colored people la Santo Domta-
1,*t t-.e.
, »e wfll be looked --on
'•**• by -h the
jthe world ii
continue to fight ■-■
lout a cj-jse.
I*
.v--
rai-
ctwred people «*
tie Xe-ro people
tile with-
i from \i
k 2 rhiU soldier
ew Jersev -„ m
I charged from tie •'— --V 5~
| ne refused to fi ■■-
jhe wer
en.fcSSsPke^ei
,^ boy. can do tSrsam, thing
« they know what Mm. I"
.'fighting for. If '-e a--. -■- f
'^m tell him that's what v-.
•re fighting for here faMis^
sippi. " • -1---'-
ten'Ur. !1" sa:'s Owaoerae,
tcu tlini the? Tit* • i - * ... ■?»
•nythirtg»tu?Co^edontkoow
.-.,:_. ° a-JJt Communism. .«.
rfelismTand i to^.a'lS*m' «
*can^rho;racyU'derthiSAratV;'
X'

This folder of newspaper clippings follows the MFDP from its plans to challenge the seating of five white Mississippi congressmen at the 1964 Democratic National Convention, through the Credentials Committee fight, to the effort to collect depositions showing that Mississippi African Americans had been systematically prevented from registering to vote through terror and economic intimidation, to the stalling of the MFDP's brief by U.S. Clerk of Court Ralph R. Roberts and the arrest and jailing of several Mississippians who came to Washington, D.C., to inquire about its progress, to a much-quoted statement by an MFDP worker that Mississippi blacks had no stake in the Vietnam War, and then to the defeat of the congressional challenge and the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. In later events, a Republican challenger to Senator Eastland--Prentiss Walker--takes a position even further to the right than Eastland. The 1966 Mississippi state legislature considers paying other states to take Mississippi African Americans, alleging that they are "more users than producers" and it passes laws designed to make it more difficult for candidates to run for office and gerrymanders the overwhelmingly black Delta area in hopes of reducing the power of black voters. A number of articles address legal challenges to the new law, attempts by blacks to enter and win elections, and splits between the MFDP and the Young Democrats. A draft letter by Leslie McLemore resigning a teaching position is also here.

Copyright to these documents belongs to the individuals who created them or the organizations for which they worked. The principal organizations have been defunct for many years and copyright to their unpublished records is uncertain. We share them here strictly for non-profit educational purposes. We have attempted to contact individuals who created personal papers of significant length or importance. Nearly all have generously permitted us to include their work. If you believe that you possess copyright to material included here, please contact us at asklibrary@wisconsinhistory.org. Under the fair use provisions of the U.S. copyright law, teachers and students are free to reproduce any document for nonprofit classroom use. Commercial use of copyright-protected material is generally prohibited.

FDP TELLS STATE NEGROES NOT TO HONOR DRAFT CALLS
'USE HUNGER STRIKES' MEN IN SERVICES TOLD
NEW POLITICAL ORGANIZATION SLATED BY WHITES, NEGROES
7
,
ii *,
I I • : J I ■ - -
ITi/U
.4;
lie » ." •?
use./tfu
MenVlif
t.
arvices
By JAMES E. BOMNEY lOCrati and copies were exhibited
Associated Pross Writer I today on a bulletin board ir. the
JACKSON, Miss. 'A!') —Nc-j parly headquarter! in Jack-
gro mothers are. being urgfd by j son.
a largely Negro political ore..: ;■: Asked today about the appeal,
zation to keep theict sons from i liarles Horwitz, a spokesman
honoring the draft and Nerro: s -fur the Freedom Democrats,
in the armed services were {said, "Tne McComb Freedom
asked to stage hunger strikes, j Democratic Party initially pub-
The Freedom Democratic I'.tt- fished the letter and althou ll
OlltlCQi
&a !H
rxa.
ty, composed oi some cull
rights groups, mide the plea in
a leaflet distributed in Negro
Communities throughout the
state.
The appeal also is a monthly
newsletter ot the Freedom Dem-
T^ . >a ■ „«,
* I ' Z •
ITfltlf
'f
ii ii Ji & 'v *> j
By JOHN HAUL | fcfring ' to -he 1*87 governor
Associated Press Writer j race, "till that is going to be
the last
Loyalist Democrats — white
and Negro — have launched a
j new political organization to
I support President Johnson and
i find a middle ground in Missis-
; sippi's race-shrecded politics.
The races sat side-by-side Sunday afternoon in a downtown
hotel and voted to form the Mis-
; sissippi Democratic Conference.
! About 125 persons attended
| the session, mostly whites from
: the Mississippi Labor Council,
; AFL-CIO. and Negroes from
I the National Association for the
■ Advancement ot Colored People.
j There were also a number of
I white and Negro college stu-
| dents, businessmen, attorneys
and political figures present.
Editor Hodding Carter HI of
the Delta Democrai-Timcs toost
an active oar:.
BY INVITATION ONLY
Attendance was by invitation
only, and no bids went to
"never, never'' segregationists
or to hard -line integration
groups—the Freedom Democratic Party. Student Non-Violent
Coordinating Committee ar.d
Council of Federated Organizations.
Charles Young, a wealthy Meridian Negro businessman, and
Claude Ramsay, white uresident
of the state AFL-CIO, were co-
; chairmen.
Whites and Negroes were
elected alternately to six offices
, by acclamation, and whites and
, Negroes took turns nominating
and seconding officers.
Robert Oswald, a white attorney from Pascagoula. was
named chairman, and Young
was chosen vice chairmen.
Oswald il Jackson County
Democratic Executive Committee chairman. 3td was r,re

Copyright to these documents belongs to the individuals who created them or the organizations for which they worked. The principal organizations have been defunct for many years and copyright to their unpublished records is uncertain. We share them here strictly for non-profit educational purposes. We have attempted to contact individuals who created personal papers of significant length or importance. Nearly all have generously permitted us to include their work. If you believe that you possess copyright to material included here, please contact us at asklibrary@wisconsinhistory.org. Under the fair use provisions of the U.S. copyright law, teachers and students are free to reproduce any document for nonprofit classroom use. Commercial use of copyright-protected material is generally prohibited.